Alcohol and cannabis use among adolescents in Flemish secondary school in Brussels: effects of type of education.

Background: Research regarding socio-economic differences in alcohol and drug use in adolescence yields mixed results. This study hypothesizes that (1) when using education type as a proxy of one's social status, clear differences will exist between students from different types of education, regardless of students' familial socio-economic background; (2) and that the effects of education type differ according to their cultural background.

Methods: Data from the Brussels youth monitor were used, a school survey administered among 1,488 adolescents from the 3rd to 6th year of Flemish secondary education.

AIDS knowledge and sexual activity among Flemish secondary school students: a multilevel analysis of the effects of type of education.

Background: The behavior of adolescents puts them at an increased risk for HIV and other STIs, and their knowledge about HIV/AIDS is often inadequate. An understanding of how AIDS knowledge and sexual activity co-vary among Flemish secondary school students and of how education type, specifically, affects these students is limited. This study addresses the question of whether the effects of education type on HIV/AIDS knowledge and sexual activity are independent of the socio-demographic characteristics of the students.

Doing worse but knowing better: an exploration of the relationship between HIV/AIDS knowledge and sexual behavior among adolescents in Flemish secondary schools.

Most studies on sexual behavior have approached the relationship between AIDS knowledge and sexual behavior unidirectionally. This paper sets out to examine a reciprocal relationship between AIDS knowledge and sexual behavior, in which it is possible that adolescents who enter into sexuality may start to actively seek out information on sex. Additionally, the effects of various sources for AIDS-related information and condom use are analyzed.